Democratic Senate candidate Jeff Merkley has just released his first campaign spot of the general election. But it's no grand introductory spot for voters, explaining to all of those folks who didn't pay attention to the Democratic primary about all the great things that Merkley has done.

Instead, as my colleague Harry Esteve, explains, the House speaker dives right into a response to Smith's repeated attacks accusing Merkley of wasting taxpayer money on new furnishings for the Legislature.

Of course, this may be a campaign that doesn't need an introductory spot. The Democratic Party of Oregon ran "issue ads" this summer - with the financial help of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee - that featured Merkley describing the good things the Legislature has done under his leadership. And the DSCC has also been running ads hitting at Smith - including one now on the air that also takes Smith to task for the furniture attacks.